Jeremy

Jeremy is the co-owner of Discover the Burgh. His favorite Pittsburgh activities include discovering unusual attractions, trying new breweries, and seeking out the city's best happy hours. He also runs the long-term travel blog, Living the Dream.

How to Get the Most Out of Light Up Night in Pittsburgh

In Pittsburgh, the start of the holiday season is not ambiguous.

It is not after Halloween when department stores put out Christmas decorations (or do they do it before now?). It is not the day after Thanksgiving that many traditionally observe. It is also not the first snow sighting, December 1st, the fall time change, or any other arbitrary benchmark.

This one particular instance should not be up for debate, as the start of the Christmas season in Pittsburgh is Light Up Night- the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

In this guide, we want to share some of our favorite tips on how to get the most out of what is perhaps our favorite annual event in Pittsburgh!

Note: Prior to 2021, Light Up Night took place on the Friday before Thanksgiving. Starting that year, Light Up Night became a weekend affair with most of the true Light Up Night festivities taking place on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

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8 Reasons to Visit Pittsburgh in November – Dropping Temps

November in Pittsburgh is truly a month of change. If we are lucky the start of the month still has mild temperatures and peak fall colors, and by the end of the month winter is starting to descend upon the region.

As such, while there may still be a number of outdoor activities to enjoy this month, depending on the weather forecast you may also want to start moving inside for some experiences!

So if you are looking for things to do in Pittsburgh in November, check out the following options.

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Zombies of the Corn Offers a Family-Friendly Haunt

Everyone wants to shoot a zombie horde during Halloween, right?

If this is something you have always wanted to try, you are in luck! Zombies of the Corn in Freedom, PA, offers a chance to contain a zombie apocalypse armed with glow-in-the-dark paintballs!

Although the star attraction at this one is indeed the Zombie ride, the grounds are home to four haunted attractions and makes for a fun, (mostly) family-friendly haunt north of the city.

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Poetry Lounge – Delicious Cocktails at a Neighborhood Bar

If you've been enjoying Pittsburgh's cocktail scene, odds are good you've had a creation from Sean Enright. From local bars and restaurants, he's been found creating stellar menus at quite a few of our favorite places over the years.

But in late 2023, Sean opened his latest project, Poetry Lounge in Millvale.

This one combines a welcoming neighborhood bar with the added splash of craft cocktails featuring a mix of house creations, classics, and shots- all with reasonable price points. Just the kind of neighborhood bar we like!

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Hiking Through the Eliza Fox Trail and Riding Meadow Park

When it comes to hiking at the many parks in and around Fox Chapel, the trails feel a bit disjointed but also connected at the same time.

Running north to south, the loosely connected Eliza Fox Trail network starts at Beechwood Farms, passes through Hardie Valley and Riding Meadow, and later continues through Scott, McCahill, Salamander, and Fay Parks before reaching O'Hara Township.

Although we were not able to hit every park in the above list in our first outing, we managed to take in a roughly 3 1/2 mile out-and-back hike starting at Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve through to Riding Meadow and back and made for an enjoyable morning out!

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Phipps Conservatory’s Fall Flower Show – Hometown Harvest

Phipps Conservatory is known for being one of the largest botanical gardens in the region, and also for its seasonal flower shows that are truly events not to be missed.

For 2023's Fall Flower Show, Phipps is celebrating all things harvest with the theme Hometown Harvest. From beekeeping to grape growing, apples to the harvest moon, there really are a number of gorgeous harvest designs in this one!

As with all of our show reviews, we're not going to share every room in the Conservatory (you'll have to visit yourself to see them all!). Instead, we're going to feature a few of our favorite rooms from the show to highlight a cross-section of the displays!

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Smoketoberfest is Roundabout’s End of Season Party

The Roundabout Popup closed in April 2024. As such, we do not expect Smoketoberfest to return.

When Roundabout Brewery announced that they were closing their Lawrenceville location, we were pretty bummed. Thankfully, this one did not entirely cease operations and went to remote brewing to continue hosting its seasonal Roundabout Popup space on the North Shore River Trail.

Naturally, their end-of-season event, Smoketoberfest, also remained to celebrate all things fall with fun, friends, beer, and a whole lot of smoked food from some of the best food trucks in Pittsburgh.

We had missed attending this one for many years due to seemingly always being out of town, but after visiting Smoketoberfest for the 10th annual event in 2023, we can see we made a big mistake missing out all those years!

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10 Reasons to Visit Pittsburgh in October – It Is Finally Fall

October in Pittsburgh is often when fall makes itself known. The temperatures drop rapidly, fall colors reach their peak, and the end-of-year slowdown starts becoming much more apparent.

But that doesn't mean you have to slow down in your explorations of the city, as it turns out October is another great month where you can get out and enjoy the city!

So if you are looking for things to do in Pittsburgh in October, check out the following options.

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The Covered Bridge Festival Celebrates Local Bridges

We are quite fortunate to have a number of beautiful covered bridges near Pittsburgh, and Washington and Greene Counties just south of the city boast an impressive thirty bridges between them.

Naturally, it should be no surprise that these two counties got together to put on a Covered Bridge Festival at nine of the thirty sites, and have been doing so every September since 1971!

We made our way out to explore a few of the sites in the Covered Bridge Festival and wanted to share a bit more about what you can expect when visiting, as well as a few logistics you need to keep in mind. As far as festivals go, this one can be quite busy!

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